Bona Vacantia
by The Artless Artisan
Summary: What if the rules were broken? What if it was possible to save the friends you left behind? What if crossing over those walls was easier than expected? Could you go back to the prison you tried to break from? Would you be able to leave what you call home?


**The name of this story means "in good faith" in Latin. :3 NOW GET TO READING. xD **

Cars.

Factories.

Pollution.

Smog.

It was suffocating. The air was hardly breathable, the water disgusting and putrid, the beds dusty and thick with mold. The birds couldn't properly sing, the cows couldn't produce milk without some artificial help; babies were being torn from the womb without a second thought. Cigarettes were one thing, the drugs in production now were entirely different, offering people an escape from the rot world they lived in. Faith was _dying_; people were ruthless in their greed and murder. Safety was a rarity, you were pursued for what you had anywhere you went.

I didn't necessarily think I needed to be safe. It was a word, a concept I had always found silly. I was safe with me, putting trust on other people had never helped me any. Except once. But that was beside the point, I was safe in my own skin. Besides, I had all I needed in this big, lonely, disease ridden world.

Kuramori.

I am Reki. _Little Stone._ That's what I have been called as far back as my memory permits. Back to the town of Glie, where most of that memory is spent. A different story entirely, but a story full of despair and damnation, one from which I was rescued. By an angel. Rakka pulled me from my cursed state, mended my blackened wings, and showed me the light towards salvation. She was my free bird. I was able then to take my flight.

After I was "saved", so to speak, I remember approaching the wall. What a magnificent thing it was, so big and protecting! It was revered, almost worshipped by the townsfolk who resided within it's protection. I had never seen it as so; it was always the walls of my inevitable prison where I was forced to serve a life sentence. Now I was finally breaking free from this cell. I was hesitant. I didn't know what to do. Would it find me? Would I have to jump? I was silly, I guess. I simply approached the ruins, as close to the wall as I dared to go. I was where we had found Kuu's halo and a few feathers. Was this where they would find my remains? A panic seized me suddenly. Could I really leave this place? Surely I wasn't attached. But as I looked back over the trees at Old Home's bell tower that I could just barely see, I felt a sense of sadness. Peaceful sadness. The feeling didn't last long.

I began to feel light. It was like I was going to float away. I felt my body drop on it's knees, my breathing become quick and raspy. But I was in peace. Complete serenity flooded me, and I guess I was relieved. It wasn't _painful_. It was just like falling asleep. Up I went, into the sky. But I didn't have a body anymore.. I was a light, a shimmering light. What I had seen in the western sky when Kuu has passed over. Now I made up that light that had so dazzled me before.

Then I knew nothing.

My story, the story I live now, is here. In modern Tokyo. Whether Glie was modern or not, I don't know. Those are questions I used to often ask myself. Did I ever exist there, really? As a charcoal feather? Were any of my friends real? When I woke up in that hospital that smelled like sick and plastic, I was in an absolute panic. I didn't remember anything either, that didn't come until later. They told me I had hit my head, and that they had found me on the outskirts of an abandoned field. I knew it wasn't true. It was like Old Home all over again, not knowing myself or anything around me.

I was rescued from that place, though. A lady with long brown hair and glasses showed up one day, a warm smile plastered on her pale face. That's when I began remembering, her face struck something in me and the walls crumbled. I sobbed. Into her shoulders as she sat beside me on the hard, papery bed. She didn't say anything; I didn't need anything said. I just knew I was complete. She took me away on that cold, rainy day.

Her name came back to me on my own. We never talked much; she said it would come back to me, she couldn't help me. I didn't argue. I had slept in late; we shared a bed in that tiny two room apartment, with the rickety windows and the faulty heater, the dishwasher that didn't work and the rats, oh yes, the rats. The winter was horrid, and the city was loud. Cars were constantly whistling past, making the tiny room shake and tremble. I had just opened my eyes. She was at the stove, rocking gently in her preperations. I was thinking about how lucky I was to have someone like her, someone who didn't know me but was willing to care for me as if I were her own.

"Kuramori." I muttered suddenly. She stopped and turned. I sat up in the bed, my blankets rolling off into a puddle at my side.

"Kuramori." I repeated, louder. She smiled. "I'm right, aren't I? You're Kuramori!" I began to cry, and even she was tearing up. I began to remember more. "You were there for so long, you said you wouldn't leave and then you were gone." The tears were coming faster now. Kuramori's eyes were big as plates. "And I was all alone, and I didn't have anyone. I was ill-fated and torn and the only person I cared about and knew cared about me was gone.." The specifics were shaky, but I knew what I was talking about. Kuramori fell to her knees, tears spilling off her cheeks. "I tried to be something I wasn't with plastic smiles and empty gestures and everyone believed me, but I was _so miserable! _And I had no escape because my destiny was set, I was hell bound! And then there was a new cocoon,", I remembered the new word suddenly. Things were beginning to sharpen. "And I realized it was my last chance for redemption! My last chance to try and reach _you!_" Names.. there were names now. "I was happy with them, as happy as I could be with Nemu, Hikari, Kana, Kuu.. And with the newborn Rakka, I became more attached and dependent than I ever was before! But my motives were completely selfish, it was always about you, you who brushed medicine through my wings, who nursed me from the moment I came to Old Home!" It was all there now. I remembered everything. "And then I took my flight after Rakka saved me.. and I found you.. I _found_ you!" I flew into her open arms, and she cradled me for the longest time. I was home again. I was finally home.

That was the beginning here, and where I've been ever since. I haven't seen any of the other Haibane who took their day of flight here. Not even Kuu. I thought I was putting it all behind me then. I had Kuramori, I was complete as I could be, living here. I began to forget the Haibane Renmei, that old wall, all those familiar faces..

That is, until I saw the Toga.

And that's where we _really_ begin.

** o: I guess you don't see many Haibane Renmei fanfictions. I don't see why, it's a wonderful story. Kinda sad but still great. Anyways, I really hope I can continue this. I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKE IT. :) The next chapter will be from Rakka's POV. Yay! I realize this is short, by the way, but they will get longer depending on how well they're liked. xDD I NEED A SLIGHT PUSH, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND! But yeah, I might make it longer later. Hehe.  
**


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